Suresh Kalmadi seeks rescheduling of India-Aus series

Kalmadi requested MS Gill to talk to the BCCI officials and convince them to re-adjust the dates of the Test matches, which coincide with the October 3-14 Commonwealth Games.

With the India-Australia cricket series clashing with the Commonwealth Games (CWG) in October, CWG organising committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi has sought sports minister MS Gill's help to convince the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to reschedule the two-Test rubber.

In a letter to the sports minister yesterday, Kalmadi requested Gill to talk to the BCCI officials and convince them to re-adjust the dates of the Test matches, which coincide with the October 3-14 Games.

As per the the itinerary released by the BCCI last month, Ricky Ponting's men will play two Tests and three one-day internationals in India between October 2 and 24, which clashes with the Commonwealth Games.

"I seek to write to your good offices to try and convince BCCI to reschedule the two Test matches between India and Australia, now slated to start on October 2 in Mohali and October 10 in Bangalore so that cricket matches do not clash with the Commonwealth Games," Kalmadi wrote in his letter to Gill.

"I am sure you will use your good offices to convince BCCI to reschedule the cricket series," he said.

"Our preparation to ensure that we host a successful Games are on home stretch and we are confident of delivering the best-ever Games," the organising committee chief added.

Kalmadi also said that a year ago, he had requested the then BCCI president Sharad Pawar not to schedule any cricket series on Indian soil during the Games.

"I need not stress the importance of not having any international cricket series in India during the Commonwealth Games," he said.

"I had written to Sharad Pawar as early as on July 1, 2009, seeking due consideration by BCCI to ensure that it does not schedule any major cricket matches during the Commonwealth Games," Kalmadi added.

Australia will begin the month-long tour with a three-day practice match in Mohali from September 27-29.

The two Tests between India and Australia are scheduled to be hosted by Mohali (October 2-6) and Bangalore (October 10-14) , while the three one-dayers will be held in Kochi (October 19), Goa (October 22) and Visakhapatnam (v 24).